I'm curious if this is a common experience. Our '67 convertible has the stock steel plate that Ford installed to stiffen up the body of the convertible shells, as well as the export brace, monte carlo bar, and subframe connectors. Despite these efforts, it still shakes significantly at 50-55mph. Below that it's all gravy and above that even out to 85mph (which is as fast as I've had her) she's tight, smooth, and stable, more so than even my '68 hardtop. It must be some sort of point of resonance for this car? Is it typical for a convertible of this vintage to still have the shakes after all these efforts? If so, is it typical to have it at a specific speed only?
Cowl Shake on '67 Convertible
- Thread starter jcp123
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could be an unbalanced drive shaft or a wheel that's out of balance.
i'd get your tires balanced first as that's pretty cheap. also look underneath the car and look at the drive shaft to see if it has a dent or something that stands out.
on my '66, i had my rear drum shoes adjusted just a tiny bit too tight, which caused it to shake at around 50-60mph
i'd get your tires balanced first as that's pretty cheap. also look underneath the car and look at the drive shaft to see if it has a dent or something that stands out.
on my '66, i had my rear drum shoes adjusted just a tiny bit too tight, which caused it to shake at around 50-60mph
I'd rule out the brakes, as they were completely gone over when we went to power front discs, but now that you mention it, the wheels have never been balanced. The car's been up on a rack many a time and nobody ever noticed anything amiss with the driveshaft, but nobody was necessarily looking for anything there either, so I'll keep an eye out. But, I had kind of dismissed these two, as wouldn't an imbalance simply get worse as speed increases?
Hi jcp123
vibrations often occur in phases it may very well be vibrating at a lower speed but at such a low amplitutde you can't feel it.
watch for balance weights on your driveshaft...I've seen them fall off as the driveshaft ages..they're only tack welded on...starting by balancing wheel/tires would be cheapest but if you have lost a driveshaft weight you can use an old mechanics trick...mark your driveshaft tube in to four equal sections around the tube where the weight is missing...number them 1 to 4 place two hose clamps with the screw drives on each of the marks one at a time (the screws act as weights)road test the car with the hose clamp screw at each postion (1 to 4).when you notice the vibration improve or go away move the clamps around that number mark until its the best it can get...It's a lot of trial and error but it does work..if you find this works than you can spend the $$$ to have the driveshaft rebalanced if you don't like having hoses clamps on your driveshaft...I've seen these clamps (stainless steel ones)on driveshafts last years........or make friends with a mechanic at a ford dealership and get them to drive with you and your car with the electronic vibration analizer it'll tell you right away whats shaking hope this helps you out
vibrations often occur in phases it may very well be vibrating at a lower speed but at such a low amplitutde you can't feel it.
watch for balance weights on your driveshaft...I've seen them fall off as the driveshaft ages..they're only tack welded on...starting by balancing wheel/tires would be cheapest but if you have lost a driveshaft weight you can use an old mechanics trick...mark your driveshaft tube in to four equal sections around the tube where the weight is missing...number them 1 to 4 place two hose clamps with the screw drives on each of the marks one at a time (the screws act as weights)road test the car with the hose clamp screw at each postion (1 to 4).when you notice the vibration improve or go away move the clamps around that number mark until its the best it can get...It's a lot of trial and error but it does work..if you find this works than you can spend the $$$ to have the driveshaft rebalanced if you don't like having hoses clamps on your driveshaft...I've seen these clamps (stainless steel ones)on driveshafts last years........or make friends with a mechanic at a ford dealership and get them to drive with you and your car with the electronic vibration analizer it'll tell you right away whats shaking hope this helps you out
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